Mo. House Committees Pass Boeing Incentive Bill

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMOX) – Two Missouri House committees have approved incentives to lure the Boeing 777X project to St. Louis.

Senate Bill 1 unanimously passed out of the House Economic Development Committee 24-0 Thursday afternoon. The House Rules Committee later approved the plan.

The full House is scheduled to hear the bill beginning at 9 a.m. Friday.

The company has set December 10 as the deadline for states to present their proposals.

The Missouri plan would offer $435 million in tax breaks to Boeing in exchange for the creation of 2,000 jobs. If Boeing could create 8,000 jobs, the state would offer $1.7 billion in breaks.

Meanwhile, Gordon King, the president of the local Boeing machinists union, spent much of Thursday meeting with company officials.

King reportedly told a Seattle radio station Wednesday that St. Louis union members would also reject the contract which has prompted Boeing to possibly move 777X production out of Washington.

King later backed away from those comments, issuing a statement Thursday claiming his members are “prepared and ready to sit down with Boeing Company to discuss the details of a contract for work on the 777X Aircraft here in St. Louis.”

“It should be understood that we appreciate the efforts of the Governor, the Missouri General Assembly, our Congressional delegation, the business community across the state and our brothers and sisters in organized labors’ efforts to mount the unprecedented campaign to bring this new plane to St. Louis,” he said in the statement.

More than a dozen states are competing for the project. Boeing reportedly sent the city of Charlotte, North Carolina a request for proposal Wednesday.